U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,596, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a hydraulic damper for a steering system, such as that of a boat or watercraft. A manually movable steering mechanism, such as a steering wheel, is connected to a piston and cylinder combination in such a way that rotation of the steering wheel causes relative movement between the piston and cylinder. Hydraulic fluid is disposed within the cylinder in such a way that movement between the cylinder and piston requires the hydraulic fluid to move from one portion of the cylinder to another portion of the cylinder. This fluid movement is conducted through a conduit which can be external to the cylinder or internal to the cylinder and extending through the piston.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,771, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a control system for a marine vessel that incorporates a marine propulsion system that can be attached to a marine vessel and connected in signal communication with a serial communication bus and a controller. A plurality of input devices and output devices are also connected in signal communication with the communication bus and a bus access manager, such as a CAN Kingdom network, is connected in signal communication with the controller to regulate the incorporation of additional devices to the plurality of devices in signal communication with the bus whereby the controller is connected in signal communication with each of the plurality of devices on the communication bus. The input and output devices can each transmit messages to the serial communication bus for receipt by other devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,117, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a foot control unit for controlling the directional orientation of a trolling motor. The foot control unit includes an upper pivotal foot pedal and a lower flat base member to which the foot pedal is pivotally attached. The foot control unit further includes an offset hinge consisting of an upper hinge member pivotally attached at a first end thereof to the foot pedal and a lower hinge member pivotally attached at a first end thereof to the base member, the hinge members being pivotally attached to each other at respective ends thereof which are opposite from said first ends thereof, and a detent mounted on the offset hinge unit and responsive to a predetermined degree of pivotal movement of the upper hinge member with respect to the lower hinge member to provide a temporary stop in the pivotal movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,507,164, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a trolling motor having current based power management including: an electric motor; a motor controller having an output for providing voltage to the motor; and a current sensor for measuring the electrical current flowing through the motor. Upon determining that the trolling motor has been operating above its continuous duty limit for a predetermined period of time, the motor controller begins reducing the voltage output to the motor until reaching an acceptable output voltage. In another embodiment, the controller is operated in three distinct modes with three distinct sets of operating parameter, namely: a normal mode wherein the output is set to a commanded level; a current limit mode wherein the output is set to a safe, predetermined level; and a transitional mode wherein the output is incrementally changed from the predetermined level to the commanded level.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,857, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a transmission for a marine propulsion system using a cone clutch in such a way that, when in a forward gear position, torque is transmitted from an input shaft, or driving shaft, to an output shaft, or driven shaft, solely through the cone clutch. When in forward gear position, driving torque between the driving and driven shafts is not transmitted through any gear teeth. When in reverse gear position, torque is transmitted through an assembly of the bevel gears.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,857, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a hydraulically assisted steering system that provides a controller which activates a hydraulic pump when a manual throttle selector handle is in either forward or reverse gear selector positions, but deactivates the pump when the handle is in a neutral gear selector position. A controller can also interrogate an ignition key to make sure that it is in an ON position and also respond to the activation of a manual switch which can be used to override the deactivation step of the pump.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,112,107, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a haptic throttle control mechanism that includes a vibrating element that is connected in vibration transmitting relation with the control mechanism. The vibrating element can be a motor with an eccentric weight attached to its shaft or a piezoceramic component. The vibrating signal can be used to provide information to the operator of the marine vessel relating to the actual operating speed of the engine or, alternatively, it can be used to alert the operator of an alarm condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,103,287, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses drive-by-wire control systems and methods for a marine engine utilizing an input device that is manually positionable to provide operator inputs to an engine control unit (ECU) located with the marine engine. The ECU has a main processor that receives the inputs and controls speed of the marine engine based upon the inputs and a watchdog processor that receives the inputs and monitors operations of the main processor based upon the inputs. The operations of the main processor are communicated to the watchdog processor via a communication link. The main processor causes the watchdog processor to sample the inputs from the input device at the same time as the main processor via a sampling link that is separate and distinct from the communication link. The main processor periodically compares samples of the inputs that are simultaneously taken by the main processor and watchdog processor and limits the speed of the engine when the samples differ from each other by more than a predetermined amount.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,272,764, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a remote control device for a vessel that is installed in a vessel and remotely controls a vessel propulsion device of the vessel. The remote control device includes an operation member, an operation load applying mechanism, a control section, and an actuator. The operation member is supported rotatably around a rotation axis, and is operated by an operator to switch the shift position of a forward-reverse switching mechanism in the vessel propulsion device according to the operation angle of the operation member. The operation load applying mechanism applies an operation load to the operation member. The control section controls the operation load. The operation load applying mechanism includes an actuator that adjusts the operation load. The control section is arranged to control the actuator based on a vessel speed of the vessel.
Unpublished U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/190,620, filed Jun. 23, 2016, and assigned to the Applicant of the present application, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a drive-by-wire control system for steering a propulsion device on a marine vessel that includes a steering wheel that is manually rotatable and a steering actuator that causes the propulsion device to steer based upon rotation of the steering wheel. The system further includes a resistance device that applies a resistance force against rotation of the steering wheel, and a controller that controls the resistance device to vary the resistance force based on at least one sensed condition of the system.
Unpublished U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/992,513, filed Jan. 11, 2016, and assigned to the Applicant of the present application, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses an electromechanical lockout device for a remote control on a marine vessel that includes an electric actuator and a locking pin having an engagement end and a second end. The locking pin is arranged with respect to a control lever such that the locking pin is positionable in a locked position, where the engagement end of the locking pin prevents rotation of the control lever into a reverse position, and in a retracted position, where the engagement end of the locking pin allows rotation of the control lever into the reverse position. A method of controlling lockout for a remote control includes sensing a position of a control lever, calculating a rate of change of the position, and engaging a lockout to prevent a gear system from shifting into reverse gear if the rate of change exceeds a threshold rate of change.